The Innkeeper's Resource

Innkeeping Education

We have just returned from the Mid-Atlantic Innkeeper's Conference in Natural Bridge, Virginia. A privately organized conference that included innkeepers from several state associations including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and a robust group of aspiring innkeepers who were lead by David Caples of Lodging Resources Workshops, there was great representation from a cross section of hospitality industry leaders from around the country. As always, there was one overriding value of the conference: education.

Education comes from two sources at these meetings, the vendors who have an opportunity to demonstrate and explain their products and services, and speakers (who often come from the vendor pool) who provide insights into varying aspects of the unique lodging industry. Key speakers including Bill Oates of Inn Consulting Partners, Eric Goldreyer of Bed and Breakfast.com, and Rick Wolf and Peter Scherman of The B&B Team, all focused their sessions on the current trend of social media, consumer generated media, reviews sites, blogs, and the contemporary traveler, whom we call the i.guest.

The guest is the reason for hospitality to exist, and the i.guest is a modern animal with new and unique habits and preferences. All of us who talked about this guest pointed out that innkeepers today must pay attention to the fact that today's travelers are getting their information, making their plans, and booking their trips using varying degrees of technology and media outlets that didn't even exist ten years ago. And all emphasized that innkeepers ignore these trends at their own peril.

For our part, we find the trends exciting! And, as people like Bebe Woody of the White Doe Inn in Manteo, NC, who is president of the North Carolina Bed & Breakfasts and Inns get enthused and commit to creating a blog on their site this year, we know that it's catching on. And, knowing that successful innkeepers, like all business people, always look for ways to improve their business model and practices, we see it happening more and more. If you are already leading the pack, be an industry leader and share your experience with others.

Peter

Holiday Greetings to Inn Lovers Everywhere

It's that time of year again. Just one week until Christmas! Unlike other years, my wife and I are pretty relaxed. Peggy is a wonderful organizer, and we got the shopping done early; it's all wrapped. Cards went out (a first for us!) and the tree is decorated and lit. We've even had some time to sit and enjoy the tree, a good book, a glass of wine, and a roaring fire (our first of the season). Wow! It almost sounds like an innkeeper took care of us.

There are many inns that stay open for the holidays, preferring to take advantage of a lucrative time for travel. Other innkeepers close their inns to spend personal time with family and friends or simply to travel themselves. But one thing is clear, those inns that stay open for the holidays usually go all out, decorating to the nines, opening their inn to the community, and generally doing what they do best: spreading some holiday cheer. While they may enjoy it, it's a sacrifice to be working hard to make the time wonderful for strangers. If you're staying at an inn this holiday season, remember to thank your innkeeper. They may be celebrating in mid-January!

Whatever your choice, open or closed, at home or on the road, it is our sincere wish that you revel in the joy of the season with friends, family, or new friends made at the inn. May peace surround you and fill you with hope and joy for the coming year. At The B&B Team we're excited and look forward to sharing some time with you in 2008.

Peter

What a Week!

Here it is Monday noon and the entire week beginning last Monday seems like a nonstop event....sound familiar?  Monday and Tuesday, Jan & I were attending and participating in the 86th Annual Meeting & Conference of the Maine Innkeepers Association.  Kudos to our association's Executive Director Greg Dugal and his capable staff for mounting another successful and informative conference. 

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the conference was the presentation by Peter Yesawich, Chairman and CEO of Ypartnertship.com.  As one of the leading sources for information on travel trends and preferences, Peter's dynamic presence and the information shared was truly informative and enlightening.  After the presentation, I had the opportunity to spend some time, one on one, with Peter. I shared some ideas about The B&B Team's approach to our own research and how from his macro view of the travel industry we drill down to more of a micro view of the small lodging industry...always with an eye towards the big picture travel trends and how they effect our unique segment of the lodging industry.  You'll soon be hearing more about our research and the i.guest.

Tuesday found me in an all day seminar relating to the practices and laws of Maine Real Estate as a part of continuing and expanding our areas of expertise in this important area of our business.

Our partner Peter Scherman arrived from Virginia Thursday as we prepped for our Aspiring Innkeeper's Seminar which began Friday and concluded last evening.  We had a wonderful group of Aspirer's and were well cared for by our host inn, English Meadows Inn and innkeepers Bruce & Valerie Jackson.

It was at our seminar that the launch presentation, based upon our own research and compilations, of the i.guest was presented to our group and our special guest, Sandy Soule, the renowned travel writer and VP of bedandbreakfast.com.

So as an ex-innkeeper I felt right at home with this exciting, busy and productive week. Please keep tuned in as we share more about the i.guest...today's informed, intelligent, independent, and internet savvy traveler.  A question for you...have you identified this guest? If so, we'd love to hear from you and how you are marketing your inn to today's contemporary traveler.

Have a great week!

Rick

An Eloquent Innkeeper and The Noblest Occupation

Innkeepers are a great group of people and when you get meet one who clearly "Gets It", it opens a dialog that is as rewarding as it is enjoyable.  Dick Matthews, who along with his wife Pam, are the Innkeepers for The Hummingbird Inn just wrote an article for PAII's monthly Innkeeping Newsletter that in a word, is Fantastic!

Without trying to paraphrase or embellish upon an already wonderful view of Innkeeping, I offer a tip of the hat to Dick for his insightful views and honesty.  If you haven't read the article yet, you can find it on the PAII site.

I called Dick today to introduce myself and congratulate him on his journalistic prowess, only to find he is a journalist who has found his way into the wonderful world of hospitality.  The B&B Team's upcoming Aspiring Innkeeper's Seminar begins next week and I can't think of a better piece to share with our group of Aspirer's than this article.

You can tell by the image that I'm a gray-beard and I find out that Dick is one too...and that we both have spent some time "trodding the boards" as theatre-folk!  Hey Dick, we've got a whole new set of stories to share!

Again, Dick, thanks for a great article about The Noblest Occupation.

Rick

When Guests Arrive

Hospitality is all about people.  People we know and love, people we've never seen before, even people we hope to never see again!

I am reminded of the tasks of the Innkeeper as my wife and I wrap up ten days with our daughter and grandson visiting from Costa Rica.  Like all good parents expecting a rare visit from loved ones, we planned events, meals, trips to the museum, dinners out, family gatherings, etc., all with the idea that Trudy and Charlie would have a wonderful trip to Virginia.  Of course, once they were here, other family members wanted to see them, invite them over, take them out, etc., so we did a lot of shuffling of plans and changing of menus.

The goal, of course, was twofold.  We wanted to see them, but it was also to make sure they had a memorable trip.  Our thinking had to shift from "showing them" a good time from our perspective to "letting them have" a good time from theirs.  Good Innkeepers do this all the time.

A guest has answered your question about food allergies but then neglects to show up for the specially prepared breakfast (they were out late last night).  The guest who was going to arrive late at 8:00 calls at 9:00 to say they've been further delayed and now won't make it before 11:00!  What do you do?  You adapt; you don't get upset (or don't show it), you accommodate, and you let them have a good time.  That's what they're paying for.  It's all about the guest's experience.  Your job as an Innkeeper (or loving parent) is to help make it happen without showing how much effort it is.  That's innkeeping...and hospitality.

For more about innkeeping, please visit The B&B Team.

Peter

Summertime and You

Well it has arrived...summer that is and The B&B Team sends greetings!  While you are now starting to really put in those long days...and short nights...be sure that you are taking as good care of yourself as you are your guests.

As an ex-innkeeper, I look back to those summers of ago and fondly remember the full rooms, hefty credit card batches, and the constant ringing of the phone for reservations...but I also look back to those days and think about how much more attention I could have paid to myself, my mind and my body.

As exercise, personal time, and a good diet are important to the "civilian" population, they are just as important to you too.  Easy to say and hard to do?...You bet!  But it is essential that you carve some time out of your day for some exercise/activity and don't let your breakfast be "whatever is leftover".

According to Dr. Dana King of at the Medical University of South Carolina, who led the research. ..."But even if you have not had a healthy lifestyle previously, it’s not too late to adopt those healthy lifestyle habits and gain almost immediate benefits.”

The better you take care of yourself, the better you can take care of your business and the better the business will take care of you!

Have a great weekend!

Rick

Welcome!

Good afternoon Innkeepers and welcome to The B&B Team's first blog.  We'll be adding to the blog weekly with a variety of thoughts, ideas, questions...and hope that you'll both enjoy the postings and participate too!

It's Friday afternoon in Kennebunk and things are busy.  After checking in with many of our local Innkeeping friends, it seems as if the 4th of July weekend is off to a good start. Not only will the area be busy with guests, but the town has some guests of note already in and another due Sunday. 

President & Mrs. Bush (41) have taken up their summer residence at Walkers Point.  President & Mrs. Bush (43) arrived yesterday and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrives Sunday for a brief visit, as the Associated Press commented,  "President Bush's summertime meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush family's oceanfront estate is about lobsters, legacies and a break from increasing tensions."

We'll be back next week, but in the meantime, have a wonderful early 4th of July weekend and we hope your Inns are full and the weather is sunny!

Janet & Rick